The school is quite close to Kensington Palace, described as being a 5-minute walk from the Cambridge’s London home. William and Kate released a statement along with the photos:

“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share two photographs of Princess Charlotte at Kensington Palace this morning. The images were taken by The Duchess shortly before Princess Charlotte left for her first day of nursery at the Willcocks Nursery School.”

The Princess is wearing a coat by Amaia Kids, the Razorbill style in burgundy. A big thank you to Laura on Twitter (@SolidMoonlight) for her speedy ID of Charlotte’s coat. The coat is a classic style in boiled wool, a lightweight but warm material. It is a double-breasted style with pocket flaps, deep cuffs, heraldic buttons and a decorative tab on the back.

Amaia confirms this is the piece and has made more inventory available on their website. Here is a better look at the button and pocket details.

Prince George wore a boiled wool piece from Amaia Kids to the Queen’s annual Christmas lunch this year, as well as last year.

Royal favorite Doña Carmen confirms Charlotte is wearing their Mary Jane with hard sole style in maroon. The leather shoes are made in Spain and have an anti-skid rubber sole. They retail for €29.95, that is roughly $35 at today’s exchange rate.

Charlotte’s hair ribbon is also by Amaia Kids, they tell me she is wearing the Medium size. I forgot to verify the color (hangs head in shame) but think it looks more like the red than the rust color. If guessing, I would say the tights Charlotte is wearing are likely another Condor for Amaia Kids pair, they are similar in color to the chestnut color. UPDATE JAN 9: In its story People magazine writes that the tights are stone. I am going to email for verification, but went ahead and updated the graphic.

Kate J. suggests on the Facebook page that Charlotte’s scarf is from a Marie Chantal gift set and I believe she is correct. Not only do the pattern and color match, the tag is the same as well.

The piece does not appear to have been sold separately, only as part of a Marie Chantal gift set featuring pink cashmere items (£455). The set below is for baby girls.

Marie Chantel offers a collection of luxury children’s merchandise. It was founded by Princess Marie-Chantal, wife of Crown Prince Pavlos, the eldest son of King Constantine II of Greece.

Charlotte also is carrying a backpack, a Cath Kidston style. Another ‘thank you’ is in order, this one to Rachel on the WKKW Facebook page for her speedy ID of the item, as well as Princess Estelle Attire on Twitter, a whiz with children’s styles, she shared the info shortly after Rachel. We’re fortunate to have so much help from people far (far!) better versed in childrenswear and accessories than I could ever dream of being.

This is the Pink Pony pattern and the style features a front pocket, two-way zipper, and adjustable padded shoulder straps in a polka dot pattern. Here is a closer look at the pattern, which is cute. Kate has spoken about Charlotte being fond of horses, so perhaps the little one picked this out…? The piece appears to be sold out everywhere; I’ve not been able to find the backpack available at any retailers or on eBay.

UPDATE JAN 9: Here is more about the pattern from a People story, quoting a Cath Kidston statement :

“Unfortunately, this was part of our Spring/Summer 17 range and is no longer available. However, we do have a similar product launching as part of our Spring/Summer 18 collection, which will land in stores and online on January 15th. The new print is called ‘Prancing Ponies’ and will feature across a range of kids products, including backpacks.”

Thank you to everyone who helped identify things, on Twitter and Facebook and via email & direct messages. It really is a delight to have such knowledgeable input and assistance, and it certainly helps get the blog posts published more quickly. As someone without children, I might never find pieces that many of you have so generously shared information on.

The coat was also made in Spain by a clothing company called Marae, and sold in the UK by Amaiakids (also owned by a spaniard, Amaia Arrieta). It has been published today in El Pais,a spanish newspaper.
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Is it usual for a 2.5 year old to wear such a dressy outfit to preschool in England? I know the English tend to be better dressed than we Yanks, but thought it was strange for this occasion – especially since George seemed to wear a casual jacket to his first day of pre-school.

I suspect what is underneath is less dressy, but private prep (& pre prep) schools in England have fairly formal uniforms, though not the nurseries.
I live near there & KP and if you look at Wetherby (which Prince William & Harry attended) or Pembridge Villas a girl’s school next to it they have very traditional uniforms. Including a coat that wouldn’t be too dissimilar to this.
St Thomas’ uniform is very informal for a private prep school in London

Charlotte looks very cute and very proud and happy to be going to “school”. I love the cute coat and the pink scarf with it. Does look like red dress/skirt under the coat either velvet or or a fine wale corduroy fabric. The brown tights may be a slightly different color in person. I suspect Charlotte is given choices in what to wear and she opted for the brown tights and maybe even the pink scarf out of a couple of color options. Suspect after the first exciting few days she will quickly start wearing more casual clothes to school. Although my once little girl wore dresses at least as often as pants to nursery school. Her dresses were sometimes the more dressy style but mainly the Hanna Andersson brand of cotton great for play dresses and skirts and tops.

After sending numerous messages out and feeling like I’d never get my hands on this scarf… I’ve been successful. I was able to purchase the LAST scarf from a Marie Chantal set that wasn’t over $400+. I am so proud. haha It’s IDENTICAL to this and is also the same brand & cashmere so I’m basically 100% sure that it’s what Charlotte is wearing. 🙂 Yay! I even counted the braiding and sections to make sure. It’s the staple piece in the outfit … It makes the whole look come together.

It looks like maroon is going to be a default colour for Charlotte, someone is clearly buying it for her on regular basis. They don’t have school uniforms at such an early school, do they? That is one beautiful coat and definitely fit for a princess. And there seems to be a glimpse of a pink-ish skirt underneath.

I’m not so keen on the colour of the tights but, hey ho, we’re not talking cat-walk fashion here. And clearly a Pink Pony backpack doesn’t add élan, but it at least indicates Charlotte herself may have had a say in the choosing of it.

Brilliant work on all these IDs, I can’t believe the scarf has been tracked down as well, just amazing. And cashmere is very nice on a cold morning. I’m glad the little bow can move further back out of sight as Charlotte’s hair grows longer, it looks a tad less babyish. And thanks for that tip about the distinctive Carmen shoe soles

But the thing that strikes me most is how grown-up Charlotte looks! I can’t get over her camera poses – has she been studying the gossip columns? I wouldn’t put it past her! It’s that knowing tilt of the head in her seated pose and the slightly crooked right leg placed forward – pure Victoria Beckham!! – that leave no doubt of her clear intelligence and developing character.

How very special. With photos of the children released sparingly, there is such a difference/growth change between events…including 3 weeks ago! Thrilled DoC was able to enjoy “this” first day – smiles everywhere.